


The Girl at the Front Desk

by fearnotthedemons



Series: 7 Day Fic Challenge [5]
Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Cute, F/M, Feel-good, Fluff, M/F, Sam Has a Crush, steve is a terrible wingman, steven grant rogers is a star spangled embarassment but we love him anyways, the girl at the front desk is made of sunshine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-25
Updated: 2017-09-25
Packaged: 2019-01-05 09:31:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12187413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fearnotthedemons/pseuds/fearnotthedemons
Summary: Prompt: Write the story of Sam trying to impress that receptionist from Winter Soldier.





	The Girl at the Front Desk

**Author's Note:**

> Sam Wilson deserves all that is good on this cruel earth

After the shit-show that was the Potomac Incident, Sam Wilson didn’t have free time like he used to. Sure, he still went on his morning jogs when he could, but that was a small comfort when his life was slowly being overtaken by Steven Grant Rogers. 

Not that he was really complaining. He loved Steve, and he was happy to be back in the game. The whole part-time superhero gig just didn’t give him as many opportunities to do his own thing. 

What was his own thing, exactly? Volunteering at the VA. Getting to help people through the same struggles he faced coming home was the best kind of therapy out there. Making sure that they didn’t get stuck in that despair, that hopelessness and confusion they all felt coming back to a once-familiar world now foreign to them? He couldn’t express how much that meant to him. 

This was not to say, however, that his motivations for going as much as he did were entirely unselfish. Group therapy was something he strongly believed in and valued, but he also really liked seeing the girl at the front desk every day. From the sweet smile she flashed every time she saw him to the way she remembered all the little details about their brief conversations, Sam was convinced she was some kind of angel. It had gotten to the point where he timed his visits to coincide with her shifts so he could see her. 

Steve just gave a look every time Sam said he was off to the VA, because he knew that all he would hear about the next day was how sweet she was, what a beautiful smile she had, how she deserved every good thing in the world, et cetera, et cetera. Thinking about it, he couldn’t keep an amused grin from his face. Man, did Sam have it bad. 

But that got him thinking. Sam had said, back when they first met, that Steve should stop by the VA sometime to make him look good in front of this girl at the front desk. Steve had visited the VA before, sure, but never with the intent of being Sam’s “wingman”. He wasn’t really the smoothest talker or the best bluffer out there, he would be the first to admit, but he owed it to Sam to try. With that in mind, he settled on stopping in the very next day. 

Admittedly, Steve probably should have gone in with a plan of attack. But how do you plan for something like this? No. He had this. If he could come up with inspirational speeches in the middle of fighting a Nazi uprising, who was to say he couldn’t say a few nice things about best buddy on the fly? 

Okay, deep breaths. It was go time.

After making sure that Sam was still finishing up his talk for the day, Steve casually made his way to the front desk. Sure enough, stationed there was the girl of Sam’s dreams. She was exactly as Sam described her. (“She’s just-It’s like she’s made of sunshine, man. Prettiest smile you ever saw.”) 

She directed her sunshine smile right at Steve upon his approach and gave a cheery greeting. It was the one she used for everyone, he was sure, but she sounded so genuine and friendly. He could see why Sam liked her so much. 

“Hi, uh,” he glanced at her nametag, “Ana Sofia, I was wondering if you could help me with something?”

She flashed another warm smile. “Oh, please, sir, you can call me Sofia. What can I help you with today? If you’re here for counselling I’m afraid our last session is just wrapping up now.”

“Well, you can call me Steve, and I don’t have an appointment today, actually. I’m looking for my buddy, Sam. Have you seen him around at all?” 

At that she blushed and her eyes widened a little bit. The general public knew by now that Captain America and the Falcon were working together, but Sofia hadn’t realized their friendship extended off-duty. 

“Sam Wilson? He’s one of our volunteers here. He’s leading a meeting right now, but he should be out in a few minutes.”

Steve brought out his winsome Captain America smile. “That’s the guy! You know him very well?”

“Sam is a-” she hesitated, turning a deeper shade of crimson. “He’s a friend of mine as well. He always stops by to say hello. It’s sweet.” 

Sofia was smiling more to herself than at Steve, now, lost in thoughts about the kind veteran she wished she could get to know more. He was so considerate and gentlemanly and genuine and dreamy and everything else she ever wanted in a guy. Cue the lovestruck sighs. Knowing that Captain America himself liked Sam enough to spend time with him outside of their superhero activities made her even more determined to ask him on a date. If only she was brave enough....

Meanwhile, Steve was just happy Sofia was blushing and smiling so much. It was (at least he hoped) a pretty good indicator that Sofia like Sam just as much as he liked her. The only problem was that Sam still wasn’t done and Steve was utterly clueless about how to keep the discussion going. In his defense, he’d never done this before!

“So, you-uh-you like him, then? Sam, I mean.”

Smooth, Rogers. Real smooth.

Sofia let out a pleasant giggle. Bless her soul, she had clearly been in customer service long enough to have the grace to overcome how painfully awkward Steve was. 

“Yes, I do like Sam. He’s a good man.” She looked up at Steve with a twinkle in her eye. “Clearly good enough to have Captain America for a friend, right?”

Damn. She was too good at conversation and now it was back on him.

“Yeah, Sam’s a real standup guy.” (Quick! Now was the time to throw in some romance!) “And attractive, too, right?” 

Foot. In. Mouth.

“I mean-I certainly don’t-that’s not what I--” Steve tried to save himself, but he was already too far gone.

Sofia was, if possible, blushing more than Steve, and her brows were knit as he could see her trying to piece together exactly what was happening.

“Captain, did Sam… Did he ask you to talk to me?” 

“No! Yes? Sort of. It’s complicated.” Steve sighed and ran a hand over his face. The star-spangled man with the plan no longer had a plan. It was time to fix this mess. 

“Look, Sofia, Sam likes you. He really likes you. Can’t shut up about you, in fact. He only ever jokingly asked me to come talk to you, but he’s been so bogged down with superhero stuff lately that I felt like I owed it to him to come out here and help him out, if I could.” He let out a derisive snort. “Obviously I made a mess of that, but Sam is genuinely a really good guy who wants to get to know you better. Despite my muddling on his behalf, I really hope you give him a chance. You won’t regret it.”

Sofia studied Steve’s face throughout his speech, trying to determine his level of sincerity. He must have passed the test, because when he stopped talking all she could do was laugh at the situation they had gotten themselves into. It was a clear, genuine, and lovely sound, and Steve couldn’t help but join in. 

This was the exact moment that Sam came out of his meeting. In the process of saying his goodbyes to the veterans who had come that week, he just happened to glance over towards the front desk. Sure enough, there was Sofia, engaged in pleasant conversation with-- Steve?! Unreal.

As soon as he could, Sam made his way over. They seemed to be… laughing? Were they laughing at him? Why couldn’t Steve give him some warning on these kinds of things? He would have dressed nicer. Oh, God, he should have dressed nicer! Stay cool, Wilson, stay cool. Cap can’t have anything but good intentions. It’s time to man up and get the girl!

His hasty approach was quickly noticed by Steve and Sofia, both of whom seemed to have been agreeing on something before exchanging knowing looks directed at each other and then Sam. What exactly was he walking into, here? 

“Steve! So nice of you to drop by, man. And how are you, Miss Cortez? I hope Cap here isn’t causing any trouble.”

That’s it, Wilson. Keep it cool, keep it relaxed. 

“Sam!” Sofia looked up at him like he was exactly the person she wanted to see. Maybe she made everyone feel this way, he didn’t know, but man did he have it so bad. 

“Actually, the Captain and I were just talking about you.”

Uh oh.

“Oh, really?” Sam tried to laugh it off. “Nothing bad, I hope.”

She gave him one of those famous sunshine smiles. “About you? Never.”

 

Sofia seemed nervous now (Why was she nervous? Was it something he said? Something he did?), but after a reassuring look from Steve she took a deep breath and made the plunge. 

“Sam, would you-that is-do you want to-what I’m trying to say is--Do you wanna maybe go out with me Friday night?”

“Really?!” Whoa, calm down, brother. Don’t wanna scare her away. “I mean, yeah, sure. If you want. That sounds like a plan to me.”

“Perfect! It’s a date, then.”

A shared blush. 

 

“Yeah, it’s a date.”

The two of them were smiling at each other like absolute idiots, but in that moment Sam really couldn’t care less. He looked over at Steve and gave silent thanks to his best friend. Steve gave him a goofy grin and shrugged like he had nothing to do with it. Oh, Cap. Maybe spending every waking hour around Steve Rogers wasn’t such a bad thing after all.


End file.
